He should not be judged [...] because he occupied himself, etc. Behold, Acher was certainly among the Jews who have rebelled with their bodies, about whom we say [in] the first chapter of Rosh HaShanah, "They descend to Geihinnom and are judged there for twelve months. After twelve months, their bodies are consumed, their souls are burned, etc." [In that case,] his Torah [study] would have protected him from the judgement of Geihinnom - as it said, "because he occupied himself with Torah." And it is as it is written (Proverbs 6:22), "in your laying down, it shall protect you, etc." Nor brought into the world to come: For he had no merit for him to merit the world to come. And Rabbi Meir requested the opposite of this for him - that he be judged for his sins in Geihinnom, and that he merit the world to come because of his Torah. It is as we say in the world, that it is not seeming that the teacher be in Geihinnom and the student be in the Garden of Eden. As Rabbi Meir was a student of Acher, as per the below.

I will cause smoke to rise up from his grave, etc. How many wicked people are there who die and are judged to Geihinnom, yet we do not see any smoke rise up from their graves!?! But it is possible - based on what they said, "'You shall decree a thing, and it shall be established unto you' (Job 22:28); that the righteous make a decree and the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills [it]" - that here too, Rabbi Meir requested this: That Acher should be judged and that smoke should rise up from his grave, to make known to the masses that the decree of Rabbi Meir was fulfilled. And so too can it be said in the chapter [entitled] Arba Mitot about Rabbi Akiva, who brought up smoke from the grave of the father of the evil Turnus Rufus except on Shabbat, to show him that this day is the Shabbat day. It also appears that in this story from here and from there that even though smoke rose up from the grave in which the body is found, it is about the burning of the soul in Geihinnom that is fit for them, as it concludes [that we are dealing with Geihinnom, and not just the grave]: "Even the guard at the entrance, etc." - which is the guard at the entrance of Geihinnom, like Rashi explained. And it is also as we say [in] the chapter [entitled] Chelek, that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the soul, throws it into the body and judges them together, as it is stated (Psalms 50:4), "He calls to the Heavens, etc."

A mighty deed to burn his teacher, etc. Even though he did this for the good of his teacher so that he would merit the world to come; nevertheless, according to how it would appear to those seeing it - that he was burning his teacher, and they would not see that he would merit the world to come - there is no good to his teacher here. And also if it is good for his teacher from the angle that he will merit the world to come, behold it is bad for him that he will be judged. And it is [even] possible that he prefers that he not be judged and that he not be brought to the world to come - like the metaphor, "Not from you honey, and not from your sting!"

Is there still of his seed, etc. "Neither son nor grandson, etc." How many evil people did this and still have descendants in the world!?! And it is possible that, according to Rebbi, this is worse, since he knows his Master and [still] rebels against Him, as it is written in the name of the Yerushalmi.

Fire descended and licked, etc.: This fire is hinting to his Torah, which is called a doctrine of fire; and like she said to him, "Remember his Torah."

What is that which is written, "For the priest’s lips, etc." If the rabbi is similar to an angel, etc.: This is its explanation - that a priest is from the tribe of Levi [and] is an instructor of Torah. So he teaches it to Israel, as it is written, "They shall instruct your laws to Yaakov, etc." And it said [that] even if he protects the knowledge on his lips to teach you Torah - if you seek to learn Torah from his mouth, [first] see if he is similar in his deeds to an angel.

He found a verse and expounded, "Incline your ear, and hear, etc.": Since all the limbs of a person are created to do the will of their Maker, especially the ear - that it heed to listen to the words of sages. But other vessels and active limbs in a person, among which the heart is the main one, would not listen to the opinion of the sages every time, lest they [sometimes] be evil. Rather, "the heart" - and all of the other limbs - [should] "pay attention to my wisdom." This means to [act for the sake of] the Heavens. And likewise the verse that it brings, "Listen, daughter" - which is the Congregation of Israel - "and consider," to incline "your ear" to the sages, about which the foundation of this psalm is stated: "For the leader; on shoshanim (lilies)" - like the explanation of Rashi there (that lilies refer to the sages). But the other limbs - do not heed them, lest they are evil; so "forget your people," meaning your evil deeds.

Rabbi Meir ate a half-ripe date and threw the peel away, etc.: Here it compared what Rabbi Meir learned to a fruit on the outside and his throwing away the pit inside. Yet later, it made the opposite comparison, that he ate the insider of the pomegranate, and he threw out the outer shell!?! But it can be said (answered) that Acher was incomplete, both in his traits - like we said above, "he found a prostitute, etc."; and in his convictions - like we said above that he thought that there were two authorities. So it was saying that Rabbi Meir distanced himself from both his bad traits and his bad convictions. And now, concerning traits, it said that he ate the outer fruit - meaning the Torah that he learned with him, which was revealed. But he did not want to accept from him, the mud that was in his heart in his internal convictions, such as two authorities; so he threw them away. But concerning his traits and the bad deeds that he did, which were revealed - such as that which he found a prostitute, etc. and he uprooted a radish on Shabbat - it said that Rabbi Meir distanced himself from them, as we said earlier concerning the Shabbat boundary. And that is the peel that he threw out. But the commandments that are in the Torah that he learned from him, which are compared to the seed within the pomegranate - as they said, they are full of commandments like a pomegranate - those Rabbi Meir ate, meaning he fulfilled [those] commandments of the Torah. And adjacently, it compares the Torah scholar to a walnut, [comparing] the inner fruit in it to the Torah in him and the peel of the walnut that is undesirable to the [bad] deeds: This is certainly that the Torah, which is among the convictions, is called internal compared to the traits and deeds of a person, since they are revealed externally.

He said to him, "Now He is saying, 'My son, Meir, says, "When a person suffers, etc."'": He means to say here, that it is specifically to this matter itself that the matter of Rabbi Meir is related - as it said, "If the Holy One, Blessed be He, suffers over the blood of the wicked, how much more so, etc. And the matter of, "Woe is Me from My head, woe is Me, etc.," is explained in our novellae in the chapter [entitled] Nigmar HaDin (Sanhedrin 46a).

"Where is he who counted," etc. all the letters of the Torah. "Where is he who weighed," the minor and major, etc. for they would teach three hundred, etc. This is explained in the chapter [entitled] Chelek.

Acher, what was it? Greek tunes never ceased from his mouth, etc.: And Rashi explained: And he should have desisted on account of the destruction of the Temple - as it is written (Isaiah 24:9), "They drink their wine without song." To here [are his words]. But [then] it should not have said, "Greek tunes," but rather just, "tunes never ceased, etc." - as it is said there in Tractate Gittin, "From where [do we know] tunes are forbidden, etc." It also does not appear that there would be a [great enough] blemish in him on account of songs after the destruction [to] cause heresy. So it appears that it mentioned, "Greek tunes," because there was heresy in the tune itself. And in this fashion, they said at the end of the chapter [entitled] Merubah that Greek wisdom is forbidden, and the reason is because it draws [one] to heresy. And about this, that which they brought, "They said about Acher, '... many heretical books, etc.,'" is fitting. They meant to say that there were heretical books with him; but when he would come to the study hall, he would cover them in his lap and hide them from the sight of the students who were in the study hall. But at the end, due to his preoccupation with his study there, he forget to hide them when he got up from his place - as he had been sitting - and they fell from his lap onto the ground in front of the students in the study hall.

[Does] all wool that enters, etc. that was clean when it was with its mother, etc.: See the commentary of Rashi and Tosafot. But in the Arukh, in the entry, "Aamar," it explained that it was clean with its mother: Meaning, all that wool that is clean, and not dirty with mud, absorbs the dye properly. So Rabbi Akiva, [who] was proper from the beginning, ascended in safety and descended in safety. But Acher, who was inadequate from the beginning, did not descend in safety. To here are its [words]. And it appears that it can be explained from that expression that it used, "clean with its mother," that it hinted with it to that story that is found in the Yerushalmi: That Abuya, the father of Acher, designated him for Torah [study] on the day of [his] circumcision, but his intention was not for the sake of the Heavens. And that is why it did not stay with him, as he went astray. And this is [the meaning of] what they said, that Acher was not clean when he was with his mother - meaning close to his birth on the day of circumcision, his father intended to teach him Torah not for the sake of the Heavens. And that is why he did not exit in safety. ...

With regard to him, the verse states, "Draw me, we will run after you, etc.": It is referring to the [continuation] of this verse, which continues with, "The king has brought me to his chambers." This means that he came in safety to the chambers of the enclosures on high, as it is explained in the words of Rav Hai and in the Arukh, see there. And I found in an old book - and these are its [words] - Rabbi Akiva was complete with all types of completeness. So when he reached the boundary that the human intellect is not able to reach, he stopped and not did not cause destruction, [by trying] to ascend to the Lord. And that is way it stated about him, "Draw me after you, etc." - meaning to say, he was drawn, but he did not not go past the boundary. To here are its [words].

Leave this Elder, for he is fit to use My glory, etc.: It appears from this wording like the explanation of Rashi - that that which they had entered the orchard and ascended to the firmament to attain [understanding] there, was [by way] of their using the holy names [of God]. And therefore the ministering angels said that it is not fitting to use His holy names, so they sought to push him and injure him, like his three colleagues had been injured - until the Holy One, blessed be He, said to them, "Leave this Elder, for he is fit to use My glory" - meaning the glory of the name.